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« on: Apr 01, 2012, 03:42 pm »
I have been fortunate enough to participate in the Stage Management Mentoring Project for two years now at USITT. While looking into the SMNetwork mentoring project I was hoping to see some of the things that I participated in while at USITT in an online format with more people.
There are a variety of "round table" discussions on a variety of topics (equity, marketing yourself, the differences between types of SM gigs, what it is like to work with IATSE, etc.) I know many topics are discussed in forums but there is a benefit (in my opinion) to having discussions in more of a chat room style setting. Mentors/mentees would be able to be able to discuss personal experiences and perhaps things they are experiencing right now.
I also think, if there is close enough proximity between mentors/mentees that shadowing mentors would be a great possibility.
Yes, this may seem simply like a different way to discuss things already on this website but it may have a different meaning to someone getting immediate feedback in a chat setting.
I also like Matthew's suggestion of working with someone for a week or so on a resume. Having personal feedback on a resume/cover letter/portfolio would be helpful and may be a way for people to feel more comfortable about putting this kind of personal work out there to someone who is "mentoring" them and they will get private feedback.
These are just my thoughts. I do see the difference between an in-person mentorship and online mentorship and definitely believe that it is harder to foster an online mentoring relationship.